Instant Menace

CHAPTER 1

ASHLEY

The first day of school is a mixture of Christmas and a trip to the dentist. You want everyone to see your new clothes and you want to see your old friends and catch up on what’s gone on over the summer, but there’s also dread for what your teachers have in store.

The air is filled with the smell of fresh denim, sharpened pencils, and newly cleaned hallways. Immaculate backpacks swing behind pixies (our term for sixth graders), and you can almost feel their fear as they face their next three years.

Will the year be exciting? Will you get into the subjects and lose yourself, or will it be an educational root canal? I’ve had both experiences.

At least I had my twin brother to walk through the whole thing with me. His name is Bryce. We moved from Chicago a few years ago with our mom. Our dad died in a plane crash and she got remarried to Sam, a man whose wife and daughter died on the same plane. Wasn’t my first choice, but I guess that’s life. We have a little brother, Dylan, and a big stepsister, Leigh.

That Thursday morning, Leigh walked toward the bus stop with a face longer than a horse’s. She’d been saving all summer to buy a car, and the long face was because she had to climb onto the yellow monster. She says there’s nothing more humiliating than being a senior and riding the bus. Watching Bryce and me zoom away on our ATVs probably didn’t help.

We motored to Mrs. Watson’s barn, just across from the school. Eighth grade makes us kings and queens. No one older to bully us, and everyone younger looks up to us—or should. Other than our senior year in high school, this is the last time we’ll have this feeling.

It felt like a long time since we had walked these halls. Summer is always too short, and ours had been full of adventure and mystery. Part of me looked forward to a nice, uneventful school year.

I saw my friend Hayley near my locker and we hugged. Bryce rolled his eyes and moved to first period. Marion Quidley waved and smiled. I’d come to know her a little better the past few weeks.

Duncan Swift tossed a football to Chuck Burly, and it bounced off Chuck’s chin. Duncan is probably the best athlete and cutest guy in the school, but he doesn’t pay much attention to me.

One of the best things about the first day is that teachers don’t expect to accomplish much. You get your books, find out a little about your teachers and classmates, and go home. No big whoop.

I had great hopes for the year. I didn’t see how anything could possibly go wrong, especially the first day.

But as soon as I stepped into Mrs. Sanchez’s Spanish class, I thought I was going to throw up. Standing at the back window was none other than the school bully from last year, Boo Heckler.

CHAPTER 2

BRYCE

First period I’m teacher’s aide for Mr. Gminski, an English teacher who’s also the forensics coach. Forensics is speech competition where people read dramatic stories or do duet or solo acting. I looked forward to the season, which starts in January.

I’d never been a teacher’s aide, but it seemed fun. Mr. Gminski said I’d grade papers and be a gofer (go for this and go for that), or when there was nothing to do I could sack out behind his desk in the reading room.

The sixth graders filed in like lemmings jumping off a cliff. The guys all tried to look cool, strutting but laughing nervously. They looked so little that they reminded me of my brother, Dylan. It was his first day in kindergarten, and I couldn’t wait to hear about that.

The bell rang and Mr. Gminski sauntered in. Short and stocky, he looks like a football linebacker with broad shoulders and a head too small for his neck. Reminds me of one of the comedians my Mom watched when she was young—the guy with the sunglasses and black suit.

Mr. Gminski told the class about where he’d taught before and what they’d do this year. Then he introduced me and asked me to call the roll and guess how to say all the names. But the intercom squawked, and the school secretary asked me to report to the front office.

Uh-oh, one of the kids said.

CHAPTER 3

ASHLEY

Mrs. Sanchez had us stand until she called the roll and seated us, not alphabetically but by our new Spanish names. We got to choose from a list of first names and meanings. I wanted Dolorita, which means full of sorrows, but I was afraid some people might think I was being morbid. Instead, I chose Cristina, which means Christian, not so much because I wanted everyone to know I believed in God, but because Cristina Timberline sounds like a movie star’s name.

I looked over the list for anything that meant evil or frightens children with his fists or vandal, so my mouth nearly dropped to the floor when Boo picked Fernando, which means brave. He’d been anything but brave with his toady little friend last year when they terrorized Bryce and me and the rest of the town. Boo had been sent to a juvenile detention facility because of his role in some vandalism in Red Rock, and Bryce and I had been the ones who figured out what had happened. I hoped Boo wouldn’t find out we had cracked the case.

His real name is Aaron, but the whole school calls him Boo, because that’s what he yells at every event. He boos when other teams are announced, boos the referees, and even boos at spelling bees. The name caught on among his victims—all of us—but we’ve never had the nerve to call him Boo to his face.

Since he’s a year older, he’s the size of most high schoolers. His hair is long in front and hangs over his eyes, and the back sticks up so he looks like an awkward chicken. His arms are gangly and his teeth crooked, with a thin film of green and big spaces between them. He has big knuckles and long, apelike fingers.

Fernando, you sit there next to Cristina, Mrs. Sanchez said.

CHAPTER 4

BRYCE

I strolled past the office fish tank and pecked on the glass, letting the goldfish know I was back. Mrs. Mortenson, the secretary, smiled the kind of smile you’d give a criminal heading for death row. She shuffled papers. I looked at Mr. Forster’s door.

Go right in, she said. He’s expecting you.

Mr. Forster had made the transition to middle school a lot easier for Ashley and me. He knew our dad had been killed and told us he’d do anything he could to make our years at Red Rock Middle School happy ones. Just remembering our names and saying hello in the hallway was enough for me.

I stuck my head in the door and knocked politely.

Instead of Mr. Forster looking up, it was a different man. Glasses. Thinning hair over a shiny bald spot. Long nose. Crisp suit and tie.

I’m sorry. I was looking for Mr. Forster.

He waved. You must be Bryce. Come in and have a seat.

I looked back at Mrs. Mortenson, but she stared at the pile of papers. I sat. The nameplate on Mr. Forster’s desk said Miles Bookman.

I’m the new principal, getting acquainted with the students and faculty.

What happened to Mr. Forster?

He smiled, and that made his eyes shrink. No longer with the school, he said, opening a black book. I understand you have a twin, Mr. Timberline. Ashley?

I nodded, dumbstruck.

You and Ashley have been on the same team, attend many of the same classes?

Band and a few others, yeah.

He looked up. Well, that simply will have to change. I’m moving you from the blue team to the red team. There’s not much we can do about band, but other than that, you and your sister will be separated.

But—

"I assumed it would be easier for you to switch teams. He folded his hands on his desk. Girls sometimes have a harder time making that transition, closer friendships and all. At least that’s been my experience."

He made a few marks in the book, like ruining my entire life was as easy as putting a pen to the page.

CHAPTER 5

ASHLEY

Remember me? Fernando said. He gave me a green sneer.

I wondered if I could ever call him by his new name. He would always be Boo to me.

Didn’t think you’d have me for a classmate, did you, Timberline?

No, I said, acting as composed as I could. I did hear you were—you’d be repeating eighth grade.

They flunked me. Teachers are jerks. His face turned grim. You and your brother still have those four-wheelers?

Our major conflict with Boo had been over our ATVs and his wanting to take them for a joyride one weekend. Bryce and I had stood firm, and I wondered if this year we’d have to do it again.

I pretended I didn’t hear him and focused on Mrs. Sanchez. She has black hair and olive skin. Boo towers over her, but she has a quiet elegance I figured would overcome any bullying he might try.

The way Mrs. Sanchez pronounced our names made me almost want to change my citizenship. Mom had told me what a beautiful language Spanish was, and now I believed